Pike Township Family Stories

TOWNSEND NICHOLS
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, pages 198-199

         Townsend Nichols was born 11 January 1835 in Chillicothe, Ohio, a son of Samuel Nichols and Mary Rodgers Nichols. He never married. He died at his home in San Jose, California 6 December 1927. His body was buried in the Nichols cemetery.
         Uncle Town seems to have been quite a character. An article from a Los Angeles, California, newspaper, printed with his picture in observance of his 79th birthday, 11 January 1914, is quoted here. “No ‘women troubles,’ plenty of sleep and regular meals, a well-regulated tobacco habit, abstinence from strong drink and a philosophy of contentment bring Townsend Nichols to a hale and hearty seventy-ninth birthday anniversary. He and several aged male friends will celebrate at the United States hotel, where he has made his home for twelve years.
         “Nichols attributes his good health and serenity of life to his bachelorhood. He is a ‘woman hater’ and doesn’t care who knows it.
         “I’ve never been in love, never engaged, and never married, and that’s why I am so well and happy,” he asserted last night. “I never have experienced women troubles of any kind. Women have put some of my best friends in the grave.
         “I come from a family of bachelors, my father being the only exception, and I’m the last of my line. I believe in single blessedness for the whole human race.”
         “But how would the race continue?” a thoughtful friend inquired.
         “’Don’t worry. The race will not become extinct. There will always be enough rash young people who will rush into marriage to keep the census up, but, just the same, most of the pains and the unhappiness of both men and women come from the so-called sex relations. I never have paid a doctor’s or a druggist’s bill in my life.
         “Nichols has been singularly free from work and responsibility. He retired from active labor in 1872, and has since lived on the income from farm lands which he acquired at a low price in the early days. He lived on his father’s farm until he was 37 years old.
         “When Nichols was on a visit to Chicago in 1847 he acquired the tobacco habit. He has smoked for more than sixty years, but never in excess. His limit has been four cigars a day, one after each meal and one in the evening. For forty years he has made it a practice to sleep ten hours a day.
         “Nichols will read a letter written by his father in 1839 at his dinner party today. This yellow document is his most prized possession.”
         A few years later, another article was printed in the Oakland, California, Tribune on 12 January 1920. The headline tells of ‘Champion Bachelor Now 85 and a Resident of Oakland.’ The story continues:
         “California’s champion bachelor is an Oakland resident, and he faces the leap year with a sense of security that puzzles his friends. His name is Townsend Nichols, and he is a millionaire. Yesterday he celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday, and he never was married. He is hale and hearty, and says he will go through for a centennial.
         “Nichols is a life-long friend of Rabbi Harvey B. Franklin and resides with the Rabbi at a lakeside apartment. His father and the Rabbi’s father were friends and he used to bring toys to his host when the latter was a child.
         “’I never had any trouble with women,’ says Nichols in explanation of his bachelorhood; or, rather, in contemplation of it. ‘Women are fine – if you leave them aong.’
         “’When I was a young man I was too busy to marry, and after I attained the years of discretion I became discreet.’
         “That is the whole account of the matter, as he gave it.
         “He only laughs when reminded that this is leap year, and that the California women are the champion vamps. He just laughed a good natured laugh and said”
         “’Young man, I haven’t lived eighty-five years for nothing.’
         “Admitting that women are all right, Nichols does not regret the fact that he never married. His life has been filled with a serenity that is inspirational. For forty years he has just lived and loafed, never a care in the world. If he ever had a quarrel it was of his own choosing; not a daily event thrust upon him.
         “When he fights, he fights for the fun of it; not in self-defense.
         “When he wants to do out, he goes, and no one sits up and makes him forget the joys of the occasion upon his return.
         “That is why he is certain he will live to celebrate his centennial. “When Iowa was still a territory, Nichols went there with his father from Ohio, his native state. When still a young man he carved his name on trees describing the boundary of 3600 acres, claiming it as his own and defying the world to come and take it.
         “He still owns the land, all of it. The city of Nichols grew up, he selling the townsite. The land is now occupied by relatives.
         “Nichols is a most benevolent feudal landlord. The land is worth $250 an acre and the charge he exacts is a little under $1 an acre per year.
         “In 1872, having cleared the land and secured his title, Nichols went to Chicago and began his career as a man of leisure. Chicago then had 350,000 population, and the big contention was between that city and St. Louis for first place in all the west. The hotel welcomed loungers, in order to make their lobbies appear prosperous. He spent many years around the hotels, traveled to Europe, roamed around, and finally came to California. He likes Oakland the best of all the world.”
         Townsend Nichols’ obituary describes him as “one of the most extensive land owners in Muscatine county and son of one of the first settlers in this locality.”
         It states,”With the exception of about 15 years spent in Chicago, Townsend Nichols made his home in Pike township his entire life, until 1902, when he went to California. He has since resided in that state, returning to his home place on occasional visits. In the past two years he visited relatives here on two occasions.
         “The survivors are a foster brother, John Nicola of Nichols, who has been a member of the Nichols family since eight years of age and who is now the oldest living member of the family. Several nieces and nephews living in Nichols and vicinity also survive, among them T. B. Nichols, Mrs. R. C. Black, Ben Swickard and Mrs. Ida Nash of Des Moines. Other more distant relatives also mourn his death.
         “Mr. Nichols was not affiliated with any lodges or fraternal organizations.”


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Page created December 31, 2010 by Lynn McCleary